LEFTBRIDGE, AB TO BANFF, AB

This morning we pulled out headed for Banff.  We decided to take a different route than we had taken a few years ago.  We traveled west from Leftbridge to Crowsnest were we picked up highway 22 north.  It is not mentioned in the Milepost travel guide, but is a very nice two lane road.  It is much closer to the mountains than the primary route.  The views were spectacular.  We were driving thru rolling farm country side and to our left the rolling hills went into tree covered foothills and then into huge snow covered mountains.  We have seen them before but never so spectacular as today.  It is hard to describe them and  pictures don’t do them justice.    

 

 

We saw  a couple of eagles eating something along the road.  Also saw  two coyotes trotting across the fields

Also we saw more horses today than I have every seen.  Every ranch had large herds of horses of all different colors.   I don’t know much about horses, but I guess they are riding horses for the ranches.

As we drove into the Banff National Park, we saw deer and elk along the road.  After we got into the campground there were more deer and  elk.  I saw some deer down the road from our campsite and I walked down to get some pictures.  On one side I had deer grazing and the other side elk.  That is a first for me to have deer and elk on either side of me 

Great Falls, MT to Leftbridge, AB

We left Great Falls and hit the road for Canada.  Our plan is to make it to Leftbridge, AB today. It would depend on how long it would take us going thru customs.  The drive to the border was uneventful.  We saw several antelope.  No pictures.  Going thru customs was a breeze.  A couple of questions and have safe travels.  No hassles.  We got to Leftbridge and went to Bridge View RV Resort.  It is a Passport  America park and we got a 50% discount of $50.40 a day for 2 days.  A nice park but there is a charge for everything.  A dollar for a shower and more if you like to let the water run.  Wi fi $3.15 a day.  Nice pool but a little cool to swim.  We did go to the Birds of Prey Centre where they have many birds that have been sent there to recover from injuries.  Those that can  be released in the wild are, but many can not be released.  The birds come from all over North America, some from as far away as Florida.  Barb and Diane both were brave and held a small burrowing owl.

        

        

FOXES AND BUFFALO

Barb and I were taking  a  walk last evening.  The path goes out on a small hill that overlooks the city of Great Falls.  We are always looking for wild life and saw something running across an open field. At first we thought it was a coyote.   This animal would run and then stop and watch us.  I tried to get pictures, but she was a long way off.  We continued our walk and kept seeing this animal moving ahead of us and always looking back, then we heard barking.  We then decided this was a fox.  The fox went under the fence and on to the air base.  We could see her and she kept on barking, little yips. As we were approaching a turn in the path Barb spotted 2 small foxes peeking out of a pile of brush. As we were standing there  Barb spotted two more little foxes off to our left.  I guess all the barking was talking to the little ones  to stay hid.  But I guess little foxes are like little kids, they don’t follow orders.

   

Today we took a ride  with our friends Wayne and Diane to the  First  Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park.  It was very interesting.   We didn’t see any buffalo jumping  but we saw the bluff that was used.  It was a long way down and I could see that any buffalo going over the edge would be  history. 

We also saw lots of prairie dogs. You could hear them barking to each other.

These pictures were from in the information center.

You might think that all we do is go out and  have a good time but there are times we have to do some work.  .

Here is Diane working on a privacy curtain for their  coach.  The job is done and looks good.

Barb and I were out shopping and needed lunch, we found a small restaurant called Goode’s Q & Bayou Grill.   The food  and services were  good.  We had bar-b-que  very good.  We well go back next time in Great Falls, MT.

GREAT FALLS, MT

We arrived in Great Falls Tuesday evening.  Wednesday morning I had a shock when I got up and peeked out the window.  The ground was covered with white stuff.  I couldn’t believe it, I had to open the door and look out to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me.  Yes, the ground was covered with snow.  The good part. It was gone by 10:00 AM. 

Thursday  we received a phone call from our friends Wayne and Diane that they were about 3 hours away and we would see them that afternoon.  They pulled in to the campground  later in the day and we were sure glad to see them.  After they got settled in we all went out to dinner.  It was enjoyable to be able to catch up on what  everyone was during. 

We are going to be here in Great Falls for about a week waiting for mail and catching up on things that don’t get done when we are traveling.

The picture below is the sunset over Great Falls.

  

The horses next door sure had a good time running and kicking in the snow.  There is one little burro also and we often hear him  braying.   If you enlarge the pictures, you can see the horses next door.

A SNOW DAY

We rushed to get started this morning and managed to get on the road by 9:45 AM.  Stopped at AMBEST Travel  Plaza for fuel.  Diesel was $2.30 a gallon, better than in WA.   It was cloudy and scattered showers as we started out.    When we  turned north  toward  Great Falls, MT, the  road started  to climb and as  we neared the  top of  Mc Donald Pass (6320’) the rain turned to snow. We could see on the trees that it had snowed either yesterday or last night as there was fresh snow on them.  The snow we were seeing was not sticking but I didn’t expect to be driving in the snow in May. 

    

We drove by some interesting rock formations between Helena and Great Falls. We also crossed the Missouri  River several times.  We saw some wild life today -  a herd of antelope and a herd of deer.  No pictures.

We arrived in Great Falls about 3:30 PM and went to the fair grounds as they have RV sites. Full hook up sites used to be  $20.00, but price has gone up to $25.00 and not worth the price.    May be for one night.  We left and went to Malmstrom Air Force Base where they have a very nice rv park. It’s $19.00 with full hook ups and cement pad.  We’ll be here at least a week.

We drove 226 miles today. 

Headed to Missoula, MT

We have been here in Chewelah, WA for the last week and have  had an enjoyable time with our friends Lee and Sharon.

Also while here I went to see an ophthalmologist for my semi-annual check up.    Found out I needed new glasses.  So I helped the  economy  some more and got new glasses.  

On Sunday Lee and I took our brides out to breakfast at the Chalet restaurant and had a very nice breakfast.  After breakfast we took a drive to look at some new housing  lots that are going on the market. Here are some pictures of the view.

In the afternoon   Lee fixed some hot dogs and we enjoyed a nice dinner. We also watched a small airplane giving rides to family  members                    .      

During the week we were also entertained by the humming birds and a car show in Chewelah

 

Monday morning  we hooked up the trailer and took off for Missoula, MT.  We didn’t get started until after we had some donuts that our friends Lee and Sharon brought by.  After good byes we hit the road.  We had rain on and off all during the day.  Lots of great scenery.  Snow on the mountain tops and also along the road in places.  I sure wasn’t expecting to see snow up close and personal.  A few shots of the snow.

We arrived in Missoula, MT, at Jim and Mary’s RV Park, about 4:30 PM and had driven 246 miles. We had a time change today, lost  an hour.  We are now in mountain time. I had forgot that we would have a time change .  I need to start an hour earlier when we are going east and crossing time zones.

After arriving I called my niece Sharon Ward letting  her know we had arrived and made a date for her and her husband Bill to come by and go to dinner with us.  We went to dinner at Famous Dave’s.  It is a very good bar-b-que restaurant.  It had been several years since we had seen Bill and Sharon.  It was good to get together and catch up.